Our Cinderella must step out

Our Cinderella must step out | idrw.org
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It has been called the â€œLast Chance Aircraftâ€, and
worse. Its designers and developers have been
excoriated for endless delays. But the time has
come to say it: In the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA),
India may finally have a winner.We say â€œmayâ€
because the â€œlast mileâ€ is often the most difficult
one to cross. This requires first, an emphatic
ownership of the step-child by its primary
operator, the Indian Air Force(IAF), its chosen
manufacturer, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
(HAL) and its parent, the Ministry of Defence.
Second, and most importantly, it needs a serious
managerial boost so that the production of the
aircraft- whose significant bugs have already
been worked out-can be undertaken on a
modern industrial scale..
Winner
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But the payoffs are tremendous. The country
gets a highly capable multi-role fighter which it
can acquire in significant numbers at a reasonable
cost. It also gets a potential weapons system
which it can export, for commercial gain, as well
as to push its military diplomacy. It would be fair
to say that the LCA is the only significant
weapons system created by the countryâ€™s vast
defence research and production base which can
compete with contemporary products -including
the Chinese JF-17- and win.
Though the IAF says that it is committed to
bringing the aircraft into squadron service, its
current plans cater for just two squadrons of the
aircraft, where they ought to be really talking of
several. But that is not entirely the IAFâ€™s fault; the
process of productionising the aircraft has been
excruciatingly slow and past delays have made
the IAF leery of putting their eggs in the LCA
basket.
Till now, the ADA and HAL have built eight
prototypes and six limited series aircraft and it has
undertaken some 1800 takeoff and landing cycles
without (touch wood) a single accident. Pilots
swear by its ease of handling and
maneuverability. However, according to reports,
the true initial operational clearance (IOC) of the
LCA has been delayed yet again. The IOC, which
means the aircraft can be flown by any military
pilot-not just test pilots- was technically available
since January 2011, but there are a range of issues
that have yet to be sorted out to the air forceâ€™s
satisfaction.
Now, say reports, the final operational clearance
will only be available by the end of 2014. This
provides an invaluable opportunity to set in train
steps that will ensure that the LCA emerges as the
first class product that it intrinsically is.
Simultaneously, the efforts to come up with a
Mark 2 version of the aircraft with a more
powerful GE F414 turbofan engine, have been
completed, with the prototype slated to fly by
2014 as well. And, the naval version of the aircraft
which is expected to be used by the countryâ€™s
indigenous aircraft carrier is also in its last stages
with two prototypes to take to the air soon.
It is important to see the aircraft in comparison
with the others that are flying, both as potential
adversaries, as well as competitors for the export
market. The aircraft under 10 tons of operational
empty weight are the American F-16, the Chinese
JF-17, the Swedish Gripen. Of these the LCA is the
lightest at just 5.9 tons.
In part this is because of its use of carbon fibre
composites. The US and the Chinese aircraft have
a carbon composites content of near zero, while
the more modern Gripen has 30 per cent content
by weight. The LCA has 45 per cent, but as much
as 90 per cent of the surface of the LCA is made
of carbon fibres. This makes it light, strong and
rugged, since the carbon fibre composites neither
age nor corrode..
Stelth
.But its most important quality is that it does not
reflect radar beams, unlike the metallic
components of aircraft. In other words, this gives
the LCA a naturally low radar signature or â€˜stealthâ€™
characteristics. Given its small size anyway, it is,
in the words of a former fighter pilot, â€œvirtually
invisibleâ€ to adversary fighters.
The use of carbon fibre gives the LCA another
advantage: with its low operational empty weight,
and compared to an aircraft with similar engines,
the LCA has greater thrust to weight ratio. The
LCA Mk 2 is likely to have 1.53, compared to the
other agile fighter, the F-16â€²s 1.64. The Gripen
has 1.44 and the JF-17 has 1.28. Indeed, the LCAâ€™s
rate of acceleration compares favourably with
heavy two-engined fighters like the Eurofighter,
which has a thrust to weight ratio of 1.64.
Carbon fibre parts do not deteriorate with age or
corrode and hence the navalised version of the
LCA will prove a big advantage. But it is true that
carbon fibre parts are expensive to make and
ideally, the process should be automated and
procured in large numbers to keep their prices
low. India has already invested a great deal in this
technology beginning with the Dhruva
programme in the mid-1980s and it is one of the
world leaders in such technology.
Clearly, its natural stealth characteristics, low
operating costs, maneuverability and its sensor
and weapons suite make the LCA a real player in
the global market. Indeed, according to an air
force officer, the performance of the LCA as a
fighter exceeds that of the Mirage 2000, even
when the latter is upgraded.
Although the IAF has committed itself to
inducting two squadrons of 40 LCAs, its actual
needs are much greater. As of now the air force
puts â€œclose air supportâ€ or missions in support to
the army in a low priority. But there is great need
for the IAF to take up that mission seriously,
especially in the mountain areas, and for that the
LCA is the ideal machine. Further, the IAFâ€™s
reliance on heavy and expensive fighters would
make its reaction time to emergencies-cruise
missile or UAV ingress at the countryâ€™s
periphery-rather slow because they cannot afford
to base their expensive assets too close to the
border. Here, the LCA provides a quick reaction
option as it can be forward based..
Export
.The most interesting aspect of the LCA is in
relation to exports. This is clearly the one
worldclass product which can be used to woo
friends and allies, especially in the
neighbourhood. The LCA gives India the option to
compete with the Chinese JF-17 in a score of
countries including Egypt, Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
Indeed, there is a wider market, too, if HAL is
willing to dream big and do something about it.
There is a market for some 3,000 fighters to
replace the MiG-21s, F-5s, early model F-16s
which will retire in the coming 10-15 years in
countries of Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific and
elsewhere. Getting even ten per cent of that
market would be a stunning achievement for
India.
But to reach that goal, India needs to think big.
HAL, is still making its current limited series
aircraft by hand, as it were, and it has no
experience in sales and marketing abroad. As it is,
there will be a need to transform HALâ€™s work
culture to make a product to the highest world
standards. Equally important would be product
support, again an area in which the HAL has not
done too well in the past.
But all this cannot be done by the HAL itself. The
LCA programme was a national endeavour to lay
the foundations for Indiaâ€™s aerospace industry. If
it is to meet that mandate- and it is on the
threshold of doing that- it needs attention right
now from the topmost levels of government and
the Ministry of Defence.